Just Once
by AangKatara777
Summary: It only takes one night to ruin everything. One fight, one sentence, one anything. Aang finds this out firsthand when Katara gets taken, bloody ransom notes appearing at his doorstep. Kataang centric. Ages 16/18 Rated T for Blood.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Well, it seems like forever since I last wrote a story about Katara getting hurt. Sometimes when I write this stuff, I start questioning my sanity, however, then I realize that its all to inflict emotion in Aang. The precious baby boy who loves his girlfriend very very much... okay I digress. Anyways, this will be at least 2 parts but it'll probably be 3. I still don't know yet. Its all just about Aang and Katara in this very tough situation. Probably not my best work, but its more for the people who love to see loving/caring Aang in action. And by action, I mean "progress," for the most action that takes place in this story is found between words 1 and 421. Anyways, on to the fic. **

"WHERE IS SHE?" he slammed the man against the wall, his eyes hardened and glowing with anger, his grip tense. Katara had been taken by these men and he was going to make them pay for what they had done… or what they were still doing. She had been gone for three days now and the ransom letters had finally included a location. Aang was there within minutes, his friends following shortly behind.

The man in his grip had fear in his eyes. They expected money, not violence. That's what they got for hurting her though. The bloodstained letters were more than enough to provoke a punch, pacifist or no pacifist. "D-down the hall!"

Aang pulled him from the wall, a grimace of hatred forming on his features, and he thrust him in Toph's direction. She was quick to keep him captive. "He's telling the truth, twinkle toes. Though, I could've told you that."

Aang didn't hear the last part though, he was already sprinting down the hall. Sokka followed as fast as he could behind him, but there was no catching up to an airbender.

Staff in hand, Aang jumped forward and upward sliced the air in front of him, sending a hurricane speed gust towards the door, swinging it open with a loud bang. He entered the doorway and quickly looked around, his vision not yet accustomed to the darkness. At the end of the long room, a door quickly opened and slammed shut. The other members of the crew were fleeing, but Aang wasn't going to let them escape.

"Sokka!" Aang shouted with a quick turn of his head towards his friend.

"On it!" Sokka growled back, hardened as much by the situation as Aang was. He sprinted after the runaways and exited the room quickly. Toph, Zuko, and Suki may have followed, but Aang wasn't paying attention.

Looking around, he was at a loss for where she was. He stamped his foot on the ground and concentrated, using his seismic sense to find where she was. Sure enough, she was at the end of the room, huddled in a corner, her arms tied with rope to one of the supporting poles of the room. He sprinted over to her, his breathing labored from his adrenaline.

"Katara-!" He half yelled, half cried. He hadn't realized it but he was crying, the mixture of fear and anxiety and anger causing his emotions to run rampant. He peered down at her, and his stomach dropped. She was covered in blood.

A cough was her response, it was weak and labored, like her breathing which followed. "Is… that you… Aang?" She faintly laughed.

Aang fell to the ground beside her, his eyes widening more than he thought possible, following the trail of cuts, fresh and old, which adorned her arms.. legs… everything. She was curled up on her side, not facing him. He was afraid to touch her.

Katara let out a breathy sigh, her body shaking horribly with the following intake of breath, "Maybe… not."

Aang clenched his eyes shut and spoke quickly, almost cutting her off, "I'm here! I'm…" his voice softened, "I'm here, Sweetie."

"Oh, good.." He could hear the smile in her voice, and he was confused. His curiousity peeking, he held his breath, and turned her over.

Her eyes lazily met his wide ones. Aang covered his mouth, and begun to shake harder, his teeth almost chattering with shock. Blood adorned her every feature, turning her once blue clothing a bloody brownish purple color. Cuts made their way down her arms and legs, even her chest and stomach. He thanked the spirits they had avoided her personal areas. Some cuts looked deeper than others, but that didn't change the amount of blood that covered her. He couldn't tell how she was still alive… and… she was smiling. How was she smiling?

"There you are." She breathed, her eyes closing with delight, her mouth forming a tight smile. "I'm so tired right now," she laughed again.

"H-how…." Aang stuttered, his hand shakily scooping behind her neck, using his other to pull her close to him. He could hear everyone else running back, they would help her. Suki had the medical supplies.

"Are you being quiet… cause you're still mad… at me?" Katara took deep breaths between her words, her body still shaking. She was freezing.

Aang gulped, his head violently shaking no. It had been on his mind from the moment she went missing.

* * *

"_You can't just skip the meeting, Aang." Katara sternly looked at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's important!"_

"_I honestly don't think its as important as you think, Katara," Aang responded with growing irritation, putting extra emphasis on her name like she had for his, "its not like I have any REAL say in this situation. It's just the different nation representatives deciding how to go about setting Republic City up. The architects are the only necessary people here." _

"_You're the AVATAR. You've got more say than anyone! Don't be lazy about this." Katara said, her tone growing more and more derogatory as the words continued, "I know its airbender technique to avoid and evade but you can't-"_

"_-Hey! Don't bring that into this. It's completely unfair. If you had to go to these meetings you'd understand. They are dreadfully boring and you're being a bit of a hypocrite, Miss I-shouldn't-need-to-take-a-written-healing-exam-to-prove-how-amazing-I-am-at-it."_

"_Well, I shouldn't, considering I'M the one who's going to be opening the healing center in Republic City. I know how to heal. Lets not forget I brought you back to life four years ago!" Katara fumed. _

"_Katara, that's EXACTLY why you should take the exam. You need to be qualified. And just like you said, that was FOUR years ago. You haven't healed many wounds that bad since then." Aang's brow furrowed. _

"_Well-...! This isn't even about me, anyways, its about you being lazy." _

"_SPIRITS, Katara, YOU'RE the one being lazy. I'm just choosing to not participate in matters that do not concern me! You're being so stubborn right now! Cut it out!" _

"_Whatever, Aang." _

* * *

She had stormed off after that. And that night she was taken. He shouldn't have been so hard on her. He should've been there, to hold her close that night as he normally had, but he had chosen to sleep on Appa. What if she had been killed… What if she was going to die tonight..._Stupid… stupid…._

"I'm not-...! I couldn't be mad at you, sweetie. I never was.." He let out a couple sobs that he had been holding back. He pulled her closer to his chest to hug her as Sokka and the others ran in.

They all called out to Katara in a panic but she couldn't seem to hear them, she just kept her eyes locked on Aang's. Even as they started messily treating her wounds, dabbing this and that on her - things that would burn the open wounds - she didn't take notice.

"Oh." She had sighed in response to him, "That's good to hear." She nuzzled her face against his arm, smearing blood from a semi new head wound on his robes without noticing. She peered down at the rest of her body. Aang was sure she was going to notice her wounds and the pain would flood back. He couldn't… He couldn't handle it if it did. His breath hiked in is throat.

But she didn't notice. Sokka thought she had seen him and he shot her a look of concern, reaching out and grasping her bloodied hand, squeezing it tightly. She showed no reaction, she just lazily trailed her eyes back up to Aang, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Are we in the Fire Nation?"

Aang's eyes widened and he looked across at Zuko, who shared his concerned look. They were in the Earth Kingdom. Had been for months.

He didn't know what to respond. "No." He hesitantly responded, looking out of the corner of his eye to see Suki expertly wrap one of Katara's legs, quickly moving onto the next one. She had a look.

"We're not?" Katara's eyes started to widen, Aang took this as her starting to realize what was going on and he quickly shot back-

"Well, not yet at least!" His voice shook, he hoped he was being convincing enough, "We're on our way there!" He eyed Sokka, who shot him a look, "We're on a boat!"

"Oh, I knew that." Katara shook her head, as if she just remembered, she took a deep shaky breath, "That's why… everything's moving." She grinned slightly, blood seeping from a wound on her bottom lip that just reopened. It was a long, scarlike cut, the imprint of her teeth along it.

Aang's lip quivered and his eye glistened with tears, "Y-yeah."

"Of course… we're going to the Fire Nation… I'm wearing red," She laughed shakily, her eyes lidding slightly. "I don't like red… very much... "

Aang was full on crying at that point, "But you look so pretty in red, sweetie. So, so pretty," He let out more sobs, his eyes closing tightly as he shook. Sokka was crying too, finishing up wrapping Katara's right leg and foot so that Suki could move on to her arm.

"Well, there's no need… to get emotional about it." Katara suddenly sounded stern, but then her face lit up again, her lidded eyed smile breaking his heart in two. "I'll keep... it on then."

"Okay, sweetie," Aang cried, unable to contain his tears any longer, "I love you so much, you know that?" He felt her getting colder in his arms, he looked towards Suki as she worked on Katara's arm. He heard her mumble a "mmhmm."

"You're my entire world."

"Mmhmm…."

Katara's eyes lidded further, and she started turning her head towards Suki curiously, her teeth starting to close together, and a grimace appearing slightly on her features. Aang quickly placed his hand on her cheek, "You're so beautiful.. and so special. I'll never fight with you again. I'm so sorry."

Katara's eyes closed and her body fell entirely limp. In a panic, Aang pulled her head to his lips and pressed them firmly on her forehead, more for him than anything. Tears openly streamed down his cheeks and he held her close. Her body still, only the slow rise and fall of her chest indicated that she was alive.

**A/N - Well it was a relatively short first chapter by my standards, but I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know how you feel about it and if you want me to continue! I probably will regardless but its always nice to have the support of others, ya know? I don't just write these for myself after all.** **Have a nice day/night!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Sorry it's been taking so long. I've been meaning to work on this chapter for a while but stuff as been pretty busy these past couple months. However, I have managed to scrape this together - STILL SHORT I'M SORRY - but its better than nothing. And now you get to know what happened with Katara. Yay! **

**Hope you enjoy. I'll try to continue sooner this time. **

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Opening her eyes was far more of a struggle than she had expected, piercing light entering them and forcing her to immediately retreat. Her eyes closed tightly and a thin line of tears squeezed their way out of them. She let out a shaky breath through her clenched teeth, relaxing her eyelids and letting them slowly open.

"Look, she's waking up." An unfamiliar voice spoke from above her.

Katara's eyes immediately shot open, scanning her surroundings as her breathing picked up. She tried to move her hands but they were tied down, only proving to frighten her further.

Suddenly in a panic, she started pulling at her restraints, surface pain coming in waves across her arms and legs.

"And thats why we needed the restraints. Mira, go get the Avatar. He can calm her down." The woman to her right spoke calmly, there was a pause, and she placed a soft hand on her shoulder, speaking to her, "Sweetie, you're going to need to calm down. We're patching you up right now."

Katara looked into her eyes intently, her breathing slowing down slightly before a new wave of pain flushed across her back and arms. She let out a labored groan and closed her eyes, resuming her frantic behavior.

"Katara! Katara! Shh!" The airbenders voice was more than a comfort to her, but she had to confirm it with her eyes. His words continued, "You're okay now, you're safe. Sweetie, calm down."

Her eyes shot open again, immediately locating her solace. Her breathing quickly slowed, but she struggled to speak, "It hurts." She croaked out.

Aang eyed the half open wound in her outer thigh, instantly feeling squeamish, "I know, sweetie." He slid his fingers between hers and knelt by the side of the bed, "You're getting all stitched up now, so it's going to hurt a bit."

"Stitched-..." Katara confusedly lifted her head and eyed the rest of her body. The nurses were picking up their tools again, hesitantly bringing them back to her wound. Katara's eyes locked on it the second their tools did.

She let out a forced sob, tears welling up in her eyes as she gritted her teeth and sunk her head back against her pillow, noticing a throbbing there as well. "I thought…" She sighed and caught her breath slowly.

"You should try to sleep, sweetie." Aang muttered out, his own throat tightening as he imagined her pain.

"I can't…" Katara said, closing her eyes again. "Not if they're… doing that." She yelped as the needle entered her thigh closing up the seam they had been working on before she woke up.

"Then.. I'll talk to you, would that help?" Aang spoke softly, massaging the back of her hand with his thumb.

Katara watched his thumb move back and forth across the bones of her hand, gritting her teeth, unable to speak because of the stinging pain. She slowly nodded, and Aang scooted closer to her, out of the way of the nurses.

"First of all, do you know what happened?" Aang asked softly, "Because.. When we found you," he looked away slightly, focusing on the wall, "You were acting like nothing had happened at all."

"I was?" Katara mumbled, "I… no, I know what happened."

"Good," with wide eyes, Aang immediately corrected himself, "Well, not good but, at least your delusion wasn't permanent." He brought his unoccupied hand up to feel her left temple, bringing Katara's attention to the bandages there. "You got hit pretty hard. Or thrown against something…"

"I can tell." Katara grimaced at the returning throb in her head, slightly wishing Aang hadn't pointed it out, "That part I hadn't - ah! - remembered." Another needle made its way through her flesh.

She sighed deeply, "This… is nothing compared to what happened." Her throat struggled to form the words as it closed with emotion.

"I.. thought it was all just a.. a nightmare." Katara winced at the tightening of yet another seam. "I vaguely remember you talking to me in it."

Aang watched her sadly, knowing that the pain and her body fighting the infection of her wounds was taking a toll on her. Her breathing was still very labored.

"I could have sworn we were going to the fire nation," she let out a forced chuckle, which turned into a groan as the final stitch went through. "I don't know why though."

"You thought you were wearing red," Aang stared intently down at her hand, a tortured look in his eyes, recalling how confused she was. She hadn't known anything. It was a blissful kind of delusion. One without pain, one without torture. His eyes softened. "You were really out of it Katara."

"_Can_ we go to the Fire Nation?" Katara whispered, her eyes lidded as she turned to him questioningly, "I'd really like… a vacation."

Aang furiously nodded, "Of course. As soon as you're healed, we'll go."

"Okay." She muttered, feeling her eyes grow heavier and heavier.

"Are you tired?" Aang asked, leaning in closer to her.

Katara blinked slowly as she responded with a mumble of something he couldn't make out.

The nurses were disinfecting the wound one last time before bandaging it and Katara groaned at the stinging sensation. Knowing she was fading out, he decided to make it easier for her amidst the pain. He placed his hand on her forehead, immediately cooling the area with his waterbending. Katara grit her teeth slightly, confused by the gesture. A moment passed before Aang quickly warmed his hand with his firebending.

Katara's eyes widened a bit before letting out a sigh, closing her eyes completely, the front of her head becoming so warm that it lulled her to sleep. Her head turned into her pillow limply as she breathed slowly.

One of the nurses looked up, "How did you do that?"

"It's just something I learned how to do. It really helps when you have headaches and stuff." Aang smiled down at Katara softly before turning to face the nurse, "I've always found it really relaxing."

"You pretty much knocked her out though!" said Mira, the youngest nurse in the room.

"Well, she was pretty tired already." Aang chuckled, "It just finished the job." His expression grew somber though, "I have a question."

The head nurse met his gaze, "Yes?"

"How long will it take for her to heal? Was there anything serious besides that wound?"

The nurse sighed, "It honestly just depends. She suffered a lot of nerve damage from the deep cuts, which may have also aided in her delirium when you found her earlier. They will heal but its going to be a while before they are back to their normal functioning power. She'll be pretty numb and achy for a while."

Aang glanced at Katara and then returned his gaze to the nurse, "She has healing abilities. When she's awake next would she be able to speed this process up?"

"That will help, but seeing as though it has been days since some of these injuries occurred, I'd predict that it will still be around a week or two before she's close to her normal self." The nurse placed her hand on his shoulder with a smile, "She will be fine though. We're lucky you found her when you did though. If this had continued…"

"I don't even want to think about that." Aang whispered, pulling a chair from the other side of the room and dragging it next to Katara.

"We'll leave you two alone then."


End file.
